Resilience
Resilience is a supernatural ability of the Kindred. One of the three common 'physical' disciplines, Resilience enhances Stamina like Vigor increases strength. By using some of her blood the vampire extends her damage limit to supernatural limitations, allowing her to survive wounds that would cripple other vampires or force them into Torpor . Not only does the discipline make the vampire able to take more damage, it can downgrade aggravated damage, saving the user from wounds that would have long term effects and possibly saving them a great amount of time and Vitae. This downgrade may not sound like much but at higher levels when multiple aggravated wounds can be avoided the discipline is worth its weight in gold for a front line fighter or any Kindred looking to avoid being destroyed by fire. The enhancement is purely temporary and when the effects fade, existing wounds are "forced over" to stack with each other, possibly creating worse wounds than initially suffered as the vampire's undead body returns to its normal limitations. Resilience is also used in a less mechanical sense during game play because its story effect is to toughen the vampire's body. For example, forces that might normally crush, tear, or otherwise destroy that vampire's body can be resisted while resilience is activated. The vampire still takes damage, but their body remains whole. The example given in the manual is one of extreme pressure (a deep sea trench) where resilience can be used to prevent the vampire's body from being crushed. Another example could be a "normal" vampire who is hit by a train might literally splatter or break from the sheer force of the impact. However, a vampire with resilience would suffer wounds but remain whole. Resilience is a clan favored discipline for the Gangrel and the Ventrue but is commonly possessed by vampires of other clans. Legends abound of vampires who are able to withstand even the most brutal punishment to their unliving forms. While all Kindred possess a certain degree of the toughness of which these tales speak, those with the Discipline of Resilience are commensurately more stalwart. Vampires with several dots of Resilience are capable of walking through a hail of bullets, shrugging off even the most punishing blows, and even resisting the deadly claws and fangs of supernatural foes. Cost: 1 Vitae per scene Dice Pool: Resilience is unlike many other Disciplines in that it is not actively rolled. Rather, it provides an augmentation of physical potential that lasts for the scene in which it is activated, and which affects other rolls. *• +01 to damage soak rolls per round activated; +01 to Stamina per scene activated; +01 Health box per scene activated. *•• +02 to damage soak rolls per round activated; +02 to Stamina per scene activated; +02 Health box per scene activated. *••• +03 to damage soak rolls per round activated; +03 to Stamina per scene activated; +03 Health box per scene activated. *•••• +04 to damage soak rolls per round activated; +04 to Stamina per scene activated; +04 Health box per scene activated. *••••• +05 to damage soak rolls per round activated; +05 to Stamina per scene activated; +05 Health box per scene activated. Note that the extra Health dots a character gains in a scene while Resilience is active can have consequences later. If a vampire suffers more damage than he has his usual Health dots, those excess wounds upgrade existing wounds (bashing becomes lethal, lethal becomes aggravated) as per the damage rules on p. 171-172 of the World of Darkness Rulebook. In other words, once the character’s Resilience “powers down” at the end of the scene and the extra Health dots that the power confers are lost, he might have to contend with more serious wounds than initially harmed him unless he heals them while Resilience is still active. See the “Temporary Health Dots” sidebar on p. 173 of the World of Darkness Rulebook to see what happens when extra Health is lost. Also, if a character suffers damage that upgrades her Health chart, Resilience does not downgrade it. For example, if a character with seven Health dots and a single dot of Resilience suffers nine points of lethal damage, that ninth point stays aggravated. The other eight points are recorded normally as lethal (seven for the Health dots plus one for the Resilience), but the ninth stays aggravated as it upgrades the leftmost box on the character’s Health chart. If that’s all the damage the character suffers by the end of the scene, another of those points of lethal damage upgrades to an aggravated wound once Resilience ceases and the character’s Health dots drop to seven again. Kindred with Resilience are advised to be wise in combat, though they might feel invulnerable while invoking the Discipline. Action: Instant <<<< BACK